Child and Youth Social Care Systems Abroad - Lessons on Strategies and Systems from England, Germany, Norway and Sweden

The Ministry for Youth and Families in the Netherlands is preparing a policy briefing on the future of the child and youth policy services and system. One of the main concerns is that more and more youngsters and their parents need highly specialized help and care. To underline the policy briefing there is an interest in seeking lessons that can be learned from other countries in relation to system and structural changes. It is also relevant to find out whether in these countries similar concerns and visions are being debated. The Netherlands Youth Institute/NJi has therefore been asked to give an overview of some relevant developments in the countries around us. Almost five years ago a similar study was undertaken by EIM, Business & Policy Research, commissioned by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports and the Ministry of Finance (July 2005). That study looked at five countries: UK, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Norway. Country profiles were used for a cross national analysis of the child and youth policy structures, processes and models of delivery in the UK, Germany, Norway and Sweden. This cross national analysis is presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes the identified key issues and messages from the UK, Germany, Norway and Sweden for the Dutch policy briefing on the future of child and youth care.